Competitions

The summer league match to be fished on Middle Pond on Tuesday 8^th July has been switched with the one on Cyfarthfa Lake on 15^th July, they should now read Cyfarthfa Lake on 8^th final match on Middle Pond on 15^th.

The result of the junior comp held on Cyfarthfa Lake on Friday evening is; 1^st for under 11’s was Emily Thomas with 1lbs 4oz, 2^nd was Shay Mason with 1lbs 1oz and 3^rd was James Parker with 1lb. The winner of the over 11’s was Connor Matthews with 8lbs 10oz 2^nd was Matthew Maynard with 3lbs 8oz and 3^rd was Sam Whiting with 3lbs 4oz.

On Saturday the 28^th June we held the annual come fishing day on Penywern Pond and the winners of the competition are, Over 11’s Joshua Keller 4½oz joint second were Adam Brown and Cameron Morgan both with 4oz. Under 11 competition McCauley Morgan with 4oz, joint 2^nd winners are Elener Davies Lewis Morgan and Jarrod Morgan all with 3oz. The result of the ladies competition were 1^st Ceri Davies with 3oz and 2^nd with 2oz was Christine Evans. A special mention must be made of Nathan Gwynne who caught a 4lbs tench just after the competition had ended.

River Usk

Derek Carey left home early last Monday morning and caught a 8lb 8oz salmon on the Kemeys using a worm.

Middle Pond

Mark Pearce caught a 8lbs carp and 2 bream to 3lbs 8oz. James Brown was catching small skimmers on maggot and waggler float. Dan Galleozzie caught skimmer bream roach and a 10lb leather carp.

Dolygaer

Cyfarthfa Lake

On Saturday Dan Galleozzie caught 9 carp to 11lbs plus roach and tench, on Sunday Jack Morris was fishing with his mom and they were both catching lots of roach. Matthew Maybank was fishing a mini comp with Daniel Lewis, Matthew had caught carp to 4lbs whereas Dan had caught bream, crucians and tench all on a pole. Kieron Morgan who has just started fishing was catching roach and perch when he hooked and landed his very 1^st bream that weighed about 2lbs. Stephen Thomas was catching carp to 6lbs and roach, Adam Rhys Jones caught 5 crucian carp. Sean Toomey was catching crucian carp and Peter O’Sullivan caught a 2lbs tench and a carp of 10lbs.

River Taff

For many years the rivers running through the South Wales coalfields were seriously polluted by the heavy industry associated with the production of coal, iron and steel along their banks. During this time environmental issues were of secondary concern and as a result insect and fish life was concentrated in the upper reaches of these rivers. Gradually as the heavy industry declined and the heavy polluting discharges into the rivers ceased so life gradually spread down the rivers helped in many cases by local angling clubs. The rivers in the South Wales valleys have become the hidden jewels in the environmentalists crown and the otter, kingfisher, dipper and brown trout having all made a strong return. This year like last year MTAA will host the Welsh International fly fishermen who will be striving to attain one of the five places in next years home international to compete against Ireland, Scotland and England the trial will take place on the 20^th September. Next year the home international competition will take place in Wales in June on the River Taff in Merthyr Tydfil. This is a huge honour for the Association and for the town and we look forward to welcoming the international competitors to the town.

Competitions

Tomorrow the 29^th June one of our young members Phillip Jehu will be competing against Ireland, Scotland and England when he fishes the River Tummel in Scotland as a member of the Welsh Fly Fishing Team hopefully he will be part of a winning team.

The winner of the trout competition that was fished on the Upper Neaudd on Monday 16^th June was Tommy Davies who landed 2 trout for 1lbs 2½oz, 2^nd was Andrew Stephens with 1lbs 1½oz and 3^rd was Simon Bow with 14oz. The winner of the junior competition fished on the same evening was Tom Jehu with 10oz.

The result of the summer league match fished on Tuesday 17^th June on Cyfarthfa Park was 1^st David Thomas with 15lbs 15oz, 2^nd Steve Crowley with 7lbs 2oz and 3^rd Daniel Lewis with 5lbs 2oz. So far it has been a perfect start for David Thomas with a maximum 30 points by winning all 3 matches. The result of the MTAA match fished on Cyfarthfa Park on Sunday 15^th was David Davies 1^st with 21lbs from peg 32. David used pole and luncheon meat hook bait. 2^nd was David Thomas with 14lbs 2oz and 3^rd was Les Couzins with 12lbs 8oz. The next match will take place on the River Wye at Biblins please contact Bernard Farr if you wish to fish this match on 385940. Aberglias AC fished their match last Sunday at Biddlestone lake. 1^st was veteran Graham Davies with 119lbs 3oz that consisted of 24 carp and 13lbs of skimmers and tench. Graham took his fish using either sweetcorn or caster hookbait on a pole. 2^nd was Jason Price with 58lbs 8oz and 3^rd was Brian Morgan with 50lbs 12oz.

Other news

Howard Strickland landed a 14lbs salmon on the Kemeys beat on Thursday 19^th June. On Middle Pond on Sunday Jamie Howells landed a 7½lb carp, Steve Clegg landed a 4lb and a 4lbs 7oz carp plus a 3lbs bream. Daniel Noble landed a 15½lb carp and a 6lb carp. On top pond on Sunday Sean Hicks landed carp of 8lbs and 11lbs 2oz, Jamie O’Sullivan landed carp of 7lbs and 8½lbs and Michael Kennedy landed a carp 8½lb. On Cyfarthfa park Ben Gibbons caught roach and a tench of 2lbs his brother Sam was catching roach. Brennig Brown caught 2 crucian carp that weighed between 2 and 3lbs and Daniel Williams caught a 4lbs carp within 3 minutes of starting fishing. Middle Pond will be closed on Saturday 28^th June from 8am until 3.30pm to allow the Penywern fishing event to take place.   Finally Andrew fished Dolygaer on Sunday 22nd and landed 4 bream all over 10lbs biggest 10lbs 13oz these fish were weighed on the clubs competition scales.   He also landed 12 bream that weighed 8lbs each.

Competitions

Friday night saw the beginning of the Junior Competition season. The 1^st match was very well attended with 35 junior members turning up to fish. The under 12 winner was James Parker who fished very astutely to land a 3lb carp to add to his winning weight of 3lbs 14oz. 2^nd was Emily Thomas with 1lbs 6½oz of roach and 3^rd was Cameron Jones with 12½oz. The winner of the Over 12’s was Matthew Rolls who drew a peg alongside the lily pads; it took a while for Matthew to get the fish feeding once he did he landed a nice mixed net of fish that weighed 5lbs 4oz. 2^nd was Liam Williams who kept the roach feeding for 2lbs 11oz and 3^rd with a net of roach was Jamie Brown with 1lbs 12oz.

The 1^st match of the Summer League took place on Dolygaer on Tuesday 3^rd June. Normally I would be reporting the winner weighing in a few ounces, but on Tuesday evening the fish were there in abundance and the winner was David Thomas who landed a mixed net of roach, perch and small bream for his winning weight of 19lbs 11oz David used a groundbait feeder and maggot to tempt his fish. 2^nd was Steve Crowley with 18lbs 4oz and this weight included a bream of 7lbs, and 3^rd was Jeff Richards with 14lbs 6oz.

Aberglias AC fished at Staunton Court on Sunday and despite it being very hot and the carp deciding that they would spawn MTAA angler Colin Rees achieved a personal best landing 139lbs 7oz of carp using a pole and pellet hook bait fished in the margins2nd was Martin Porter with 79lbs 12oz and 3^rd was Stephen Rees with 74lbs 13oz and Terry Jones senior won his section prize with 54lbs 12oz.

Other Fisheries

Nathan Rees and Daniel Rees landed 70 perch and roach when they fished Dolygaer. I have heard rumours that Dolygaer and Pontsticill are fishing well for bream with large nets of fish being caught. The pike season will reopen on 16^th June on these two reservoirs. James Jones was catching perch on Sunday on Top Pond and Luke Waghorne landed a 10lbs common carp also on Sunday. Mark Harris landed a 14lbs 7oz common carp and a 8lbs mirror carp. On Middle Pond David Davies was practicing for the summer league match on Tuesday he was using a pole and pellet to land skimmers roach and bream to 4lbs. On Cyfarthfa Park on Sunday evening James Varnett and his sons Elliott and Tom were all enjoying an evenings fishing catching roach. Gareth James caught 3 carp one 4lbs, one 8lbs and one 11lbs 6oz.

River Taff

On Friday Dillwyn Simms caught 7 trout around the Pentrebach area on a march brown spider pattern he kept 4 returned 3, I caught 4 trout at Pontygwaith all caught using a lunns particular.

The competition to be held on Sunday on the River Taff has been cancelled and will now take place during September.

Middle Pond

Ian Cathrew was catching roach regardless of the type of hookbait he was using he caught with pellet, maggot and caster. Jordan Pearson caught a very large carp on Saturday, Gwnfor Jeffs had the biggest smile of the day when I spoke to him on Sunday morning he had landed 7 carp using a light fly rod and an imitation dog biscuit as bait.

Top Pond

Luke Donovan had landed 2 carp one 12lbs and one 8½lbs. Garren Caviel had landed a carp weighing 10lbs, Mike Kennedy landed on 12½lbs. Jeff Sergeant had had a really good Sunday with 9 carp to 12lbs, Shaun Hicks landed 4 to 8lbs. Stephen Clegg caught a carp of 9lbs, his dad John landed one of 7lbs 2oz and one of 18lbs, Jamie Howells landed 3 carp weighing 7lbs 2oz, 11lbs and 13lbs. Dean Evans landed one carp 9lbs and Mike Thomas landed one 7lbs. Anglers beware around the public car park area needles have been seen in this area.

Pontsticill/Dolygaer

Reports are reaching me that Dolygaer is fishing well for bream and roach. Andy Whittock spent a lot of time on the reservoir to land 5 carp weighing between 16 and 21lbs. Andrew Bailey was fishing the steps into Pontsticill and landing perch and small skimmer bream.

Cyfarthfa Park

The grass bank has now reopened to fishing now that the water has risen in the lake. Clive Saunders fished from peg 3 on Sunday and had a good net of crucian carp, tench, bream and small carp. Luke Curtis landed a small mirror carp a 3lbs tench and a small carp, Morgan Curtis landed lots of small roach. Doug Hawkins was catching crucian carp, tench and roach, Ben Gibbons was catching tench roach and bream, Carys Evans caught small roach using her pink rod and reel. Declan Parker caught roach and tench, Gavin Peck caught a 7lbs carp. Matthew Maybank landed 40lbs of tench and crucian carp, Daniel Lewis was catching crucian carp to 2lbs, Nicolas Lane landed about 5lbs of small roach, Joseph McNamara was catching roach to 1lbs and finally Ben Richards was catching small roach and carp to 4lbs.

River Usk

On the Kemeys beat on Sunday Richard Hillman landed and returned 2 salmon one of 8lbs and one of 10lbs both caught on a flying ‘c’, Howard Strickland fishing the same beat landed and returned 4 salmon that weighed 7lbs, 9lbs, 10lbs and 13lbs all caught using a red and gold flying c. Ron and Dave Jones landed and returned a lot of trout using various parachute pattern flies. Nigel Morgan used a yellow may emerger pattern to land trout to 1½lbs.

Competitions

On a very wet and extremely windy Sunday members of MTAA fished a competition on middle pond. 1^st was David Thomas with 8lbs of skimmer bream and roach, 2^nd was Ian Cathrew with 6lbs 5oz of skimmer bream and roach and 3^rd with just one fish was Sam Whiting with a 5lb tench. The next competition will be the first summer league match that will be fished on Dolygaer on Tuesday 3^rd June the draw will take place at 5.30 fish from 6pm until 9pm all anglers welcome to fish.

The first junior match takes place on Friday 6^th June on Cyfarthfa Lake the draw takes place at 5.30 fish 6pm until 8.15pm.

Dolygaer

Dolygaer is fishing well at the moment. Mike Lyons was fishing Dolygaer and catching excellent Bream, Hybrids, Roach, and Perch.

Talybont

Tony Rees fished Talybont on a rough Sunday evening and caught one trout of around a pound.

Access to the River Taff

We have been informed by Merthyr council that there is work taking place adjacent to several areas of the river to which we have access. We understand the areas in question are the Playground at the bottom of Crescent street, the Old colliery site, and the area near to the Community Skips at Aberfan. This work is taking place and our access will be affected due to health and safety. We would appreciate it if members comply with any notices and not attempt to encroach on any areas where fencing has been erected.

It has also come to our notice that person’s not necessary members are taking guns with them whilst fishing. The only rights we have as members is access to fish the river and for that purpose you only need fishing tackle. We will inform the Police of any incidents.

Cyfarthfa Lake

On Friday a group from Maesgwyn school Aberdare visited the park and despite it being a wet cold day they 9 young anglers enjoyed a really good days fishing with lots of small roach being caught. A notable catch last week was a 3lb 9oz chub caught in the lake by an unnamed angler, who showed the subsequent photos to Carl in Merthyr Angling Centre. On Sunday Sean Hicks was fishing from the grass bank and caught 5 crucian carp biggest one was 3lbs, Phil Jones was fishing on the road side and he was catching crucian carp tench and roach using a feeder and red maggot.

Middle Pond

Sean Price and Cori O’Connor were fishing from the gabian baskets and were catching roach on the feeder and red maggot.

On Sunday a competition was fished on Middle Pond and Sam Whiting won with 2 bream weighing 4lbs each and some small roach which totalled 8lbs 6oz all together and this was Sam’s first win with MTAA. 2^nd was the old war horse Graham Davies with 5lbs 7oz of skimmer bream and roach caught on a pole and red maggot and 3^rd was Ashley Passmore with 4lbs 2oz and finally 4^th spot went to Bernard Farr who landed 3lbs 2oz of small roach and perch. The next coarse competition is a Aberglias competition to be held at White Springs Fishery on the old canal to book your place ring Terry Jones but hurry as 24 anglers have already booked and there are only 30 places available.

River Taff

The senior and junior members fished a competition on Sunday the seniors fishing for the TEA Cup and the juniors for the Cyfarthfa cup. The winner of the seniors competition was Geriant John with 4lbs 1oz, 2^nd was Phillip Jehu with 2lbs 11oz and 3^rd was Mark Thomas with 1lbs 12oz. The winner of the Cyfarthfa Cup was Tom Jehu with 2lbs 15oz, 2^nd was Cori Charleston with 1lbs 7oz and 3^rd was Andrew Bailey with 1lbs 1oz. The next river competition will be held on Sunday 27^th April for those starting at lines bridge meet at 8.30 fish 9am until 2pm those starting at the boys club Troedyrhiw meet at 9am fish 9.30am until 2.30pm.

Neaudd Reservoir

A group of anglers from the fly tying class fished the reservoir on Monday evening and all caught fish on a bibio pattern and a black and peacock spider pattern that they had tied themselves.

River Taff

Steve Doolan is doing well with the spinner he caught 5 trout and kept 2 last Thursday, Connor Charleston used a worm to land 4 trout and a bullhead and his brother Chris caught 3. John Beer the famous angling writer came and fly fished the river last Friday he eventually caught photographed and returned 3 trout after advice from local angler Dillwyn Simms. Because John wished to fish the dry fly Dillwyn advised him to try a grey duster and it turned out to be the killer pattern.

Stocking of the river that normally takes place on a Wednesday evening has been changed to a Tuesday, please keep in contact with either Gary on 01685 371981 or Nigel on 01685 377848 for stocking dates.

Competitions

There are 2 competitions taking place this weekend, the 1^st is a coarse fishing competition on Middle Pond. The draw takes place at 9am fish from 10am until 3pm and all are welcome. The 2^nd competition is a trout competition to be held on the River Taff, meet at Lines Bridge at 8.30 fish from 9am until 2pm and meet at the Boys Club Troedyrhiw at 9am fish from 9.30am until 2.30pm.

Upper Neaudd

Brian Powles fished the reservoir on Friday and landed and returned 20 trout, he was using a 3 fly cast of bibio, beetle and hares ear and at one stage had 3 trout on at the same time. Another local angler fished on 3 occasions last week and landed and returned 8, 5 and 16 trout.

Cyfarthfa Lake

Peter Mason had 3 sessions on the lake last week and landed 6 carp 3 under 10lbs 2 weighing 10lbs and a lovely 16lb common carp. Jamie O’Sullivan and Michael Kennedy fished the lake on Friday and Michael landed a 5lb carp and Jamie one 8lbs. On Sunday Clive Saunders fished from peg 4 and was catching roach on a feeder and single maggot during snow showers and bitterly cold winds.

Dolygaer

The reservoir is beginning to wake up and the bream are beginning to show. Last week a local angler who had heavily pre-baited tempted bream to 8lbs. Andrew Whittock was hoping to emulate him on Sunday but unfortunately it was so cold his line was freezing to the rod rings.

Warning

Anglers who have fished the river recently are reporting that they are finding used hypodermic syringes on river banks especially through the heavier populated areas of the river. Please do not touch them and if possible please inform the police where they are found.

River Usk

2 kelts were caught last week by Simon Evans, kelts are salmon that have spawned and are making their way back to sea. With current high water levels on the River Usk opportunities for fly fishing for salmon are very good, and the advice is 1" or 1½" Waddington or tube fly with orange in it and a sink tip or slow sink fly line.

River Taff

Tom Jehu fished on 3 days last week and seemed to attract the rainbow trout, he caught 12 on the 1^st day, 10 on the second and 12 again on the 3^rd day he returned all the fish to the river and estimated the biggest to be 3lbs, Tom caught all his fish on a worm. John Kinsey caught 2 trout on Tuesday using a pheasant tail nymph fly. Bernard Farr caught 2 trout both wild fish using a gold ribbed hares ear fly and Brian Evans caught 4 using a spinner.   The committee would like to apologise to the anglers in Troedyrhiw, because once again we were unable to stock behind the boys club due to the gates to the car park being locked

Rod Licence

Anglers are reminded that they should now have a 2008 rod licence that came into force on 1^st April. EA Bailiffs will be out and about and keen to check licences.

Wild Trout Trust

Llandefedd

The reservoir is fishing extremely well at the moment and the winning methods are DI7 fly line to get the flies deep quickly and either cats’ whiskers, boobies or vivas the taking flies as Mark Williams proved on Saturday when he landed 4 3lb hard fighting rainbow trout.

SOUTH EAST WALES RIVERS TRUST FIRST TRUSTEES APPOINTED

The South East Wales Rivers Trust, launched in January 2008, has announced the appointment of its first Trustees. They are Jonathan Mead, Professor Steve Ormerod and Professor Robert Williams. Two other people, Michael Bishop and Melanie Doel, have also agreed to act as Trustees. Their term of appointments will run from 10 March 2008 to 9 March 2011.

Each of the Trustees has experience and knowledge integral to the Trust’s mission, and they blend high-profile skills in financial management, pollution ecology, environmental science, health, angling and the media, while strengthening also links with the statutory environmental sector.

The Trust aims to restore further the water quality and ecological health of the rivers in its area – the Ely, Taff, Rhondda, Cynon, Rhymney, Sirhowy and Ebbw - to support their fish stocks and wildlife. The Trust will also promote the positive management of the rivers, streams, still waters and wetlands as major assets for tourism, recreation and education with benefits for the region’s economy and environmental well being.

Trust chairman Tony Rees MBE said: "We are delighted to welcome our new Trustees. Their commitment reflects the importance they attach to the Trust’s work and their contribution will be invaluable".

Dolygaer

Andy Whittock landed his last pike of the 2007 season last week just prior to the seasons close on the 14^th March the pike weighed 18lbs and fought well.

River Taff

Litter

Anglers fishing in the woodlands area of the River Taff left a great deal of litter besides one of the houses by the barrier. It is in all our interests to take our litter home and leave the countryside litter free.

Rod Licences

All anglers are reminded that their rod licences are due on the 1^st April; currently they will cost £68 for salmon and £25 for trout and coarse fish. Juniors under the age of 12 do not need a rod licence and for juniors aged 12 to 16 the cost is £5 unless fishing for sea trout and salmon then the fee is £32.25p. There are concessions for blue badge holders and for people over the age of 65 but there is no information on prices for these groups on the EA web site. Licences are available at all main post offices and some groups are available on line on the Environment Agency Web site.

2 anglers who were fishing illegally in the lower valley have been apprehended recently by the environment agency who are prosecuting them

Competitions

The coarse fishing competition that was held on Cyfarthfa Park Lake was won by David Thomas with 14lbs 2oz of crucian carp, skimmer bream and roach. 2^nd was Bernard Farr with 7lbs 7oz and 3^rd was Ian Cathrew with 6lbs 6oz.

The Aberglias AC fishing competition held at Cefn Mably Lakes on the Bridge Pool was won by old father time himself Brian Prothero who fished close to the bank using a pole and pellet hook bait to land 60lbs 15oz of small carp. 2^nd was Terry Jones Jnr with 52lbs 9oz, who just pipped his father Terry Jones who was 3^rd with 37lbs 8oz

Salmon catch

The large brown trout that was reported last week was in fact a small male salmon that had spawned in the river and was slowly making its way back to sea. The person who caught it did not recognise it as a salmon. The easiest way of recognising the differences between a salmon and a trout is to hold the fish up by the tail; a salmon has a wrist and can easily be held whereas with a trout the tail collapses and the fish will slide through your hand.

The rules for fishing for salmon on the River Taff are the same as for the River Usk. From the 3^rd March until the 31^st May inclusive salmon may only be fished for using a fly and all fish caught must be returned to the water. From the 1^st June until the 15^th June inclusive anglers may fly fish or spin for salmon but again any salmon caught must be returned to the river. From 16^th June until 15^th September inclusive anglers may worm, spin or fly fish for salmon and finally from 16^th September until the end of the season anglers may fly fish or spin for salmon. Anglers are also reminded that to fish for salmon they will be required to report all catches to the committee and also they will need an Environment Agency Rod Licence for Salmon. 2 notable salmon were caught last week in the River Usk one near the village of Talybont that weighted 22lb and one on Usk town water that weighed 10lbs both salmon were returned safely to the river.

River Taff

On Friday Jake Hurley landed a small trout and returned it to the river as it was less than 10 inches. On Saturday Josh Bowcott returned the 2 trout he caught to the river because they were undersize. Dillwyn Simms caught several trout that he returned to the river on a cats whisker fly. The competition fished on the river on Sunday was well attended 12 senior anglers fished and Mark Thomas was 1^st with 6lbs 7oz that included the biggest fish caught on the day a brown trout of 3lbs 7oz. 2^nd was Dean Morris with 4lbs 14oz and 3^rd Geriant John 1lbs 15oz. 11 Juniors fished for the Sherman Cup and Jamie O’Sullivan came 1^st with 5lbs 5oz, 2^nd was Michael Kennedy with 4lbs 1oz and 3^rd was Gareth Watkins with 1lbs 10oz.

Pike Fishing

The pike season closes on Pontsticill and Dolygaer reservoirs at midnight tonight until the 16^th June.

Coarse Competitions

Aberglias AC fished Redhill Farm Middle lake on Sunday and 1^st was Mike Yandle who caught 68lbs 6oz of small carp using a pole at 15½ metres and sweetcorn or pellet hook bait. 2^nd was Terry Jones with 41lbs 6oz and 3^rd was Craig Morgan with 35lbs 8oz. The next Aberglias match will be on Sunday 16^th at Cefn Mably this clashes with the MTAA match on Cyfarthfa Park but both matches will take place. MTAA match on Cyfarthfa draw at 9am fish 10am until 3pm all welcome

Fly Tying Competitions

5 juniors and 5 senior anglers took part in the fly tying competition held last Monday. The standard of tying was extremely high in both age groups and the judges had a difficult time selecting the winners. The top junior angler was Tom Jehu and the top senior angler was David Matthews. All of the senior fly tyers tied exceptionally well and in the end it was down to how well the Blue Zulu fly was tied and David’s was nearly perfect.

Competitions

Redhill open fished on Saturday was a Merthyr Tydfil clean sweep with Terry Jones leading the way with 42lb 4oz, Gary Miles was 2^nd with 41lbs 4oz and Craig Morgan 3^rd with 35lbs. MTAA fished a competition on Sunday on Middle Pond and the old stager Mr. Graham Davies won by enticing 4 bream using a groundbait feeder and red maggot hook bait for the winning weight of 17lbs 4oz, David Davies came 2^nd with 8lbs 12 oz of bream, David Thomas came 3^rd with 3oz that consisted of 2 perch. 10 anglers fished. The next competition is on Sunday 16 March on Cyfarthfa lake.

River Competitions

The first river competition takes place on Sunday 8^th March, bag limit is 4 trout. Meet at Lines bridge for 9am start and fish until 2pm, meet at Troedyrhiw boys club for 9.30pm start and fish until 2.30pm.

River Taff

Monday was a tremendous opening day of the 2008 season, with two huge fish reported. The 1^st was taken by Steve Lewis in the pool just above the bridge at Troedyrhiw it was a rainbow trout of 2lbs 4oz that must have escaped from Llynonn reservoir during recent floods. The 2^nd fish was caught in the Aberfan area by Stephen Doolan, it was a very large brown trout that weighed 3lbs 12oz, and Stephen was fishing a worm to entice his large catch. If you wish to help stock the river please ring Gary Davies 01685 371981 or Nigel Morgan 01685 377848.

Reservoirs

The Upper Neaudd and Talybont reservoirs will open for fly fishing on Thursday the 20^th March.

Rivers Taff Tarrell and Usk

All these rivers open again for fishing for trout on Monday 3^rd March. If you wish to fish the River Usk remember to book in with either Frank on 386730, Nigel 377848 or Tony on 723520. If you are worming for trout on the River Usk the maximum size of hook allowed is a 10 and 4lb breaking strain line. The trout limit for all our waters is 4 fish per person per day, except for Talybont reservoir that is controlled by Welsh Water where the limit is 6 fish per day when the reservoir opens on 20^th March. The River Usk also opens for salmon fishing on the 3^rd March only fly fishing is permitted until the 1^st of June, please book in and report any catches to the person you booked in with.

If you can help with stocking the river please ring either Gary Davies on 01685 371981 or Nigel Morgan on 01685 377848 for further information.

Competitions

The next MTAA competition will be held on Sunday 2^nd March on Middle Pond Penywern. Hopefully the weather will be kinder and anglers will not have to smash the ice prior to fishing. Times are draw at 9am fish from 10am until 3pm all anglers are welcome to come and fish for the I.C.I Cup.

Two competitions were held over the weekend on Saturday 23^rd the Redhill open was fished on the Middle Lake and Terry Jones went from zero to hero when he landed 78lbs 10oz of carp using a ground bait feeder and sweet corn hook bait. On Sunday Aberglias AC fished Redhill bottom lake and Martin Porter won from peg 16 with all carp for a winning weight of 79lbs 9oz Martin alternated between pellet and paste hook bait to tempt the carp. 2^nd was Andrew Williams with 45lbs 8oz and 3^rd was Terry Jones with 45lbs 4oz.

Middle Pond

On Saturday 17^th Adrian Roberts fished overnight during a very hard frost and temperatures to -4˚ and landed 2 fish a 4lbs carp and a 4lbs bream using boillies.

Top Pond

3 anglers fished overnight on Saturday and between them landed 8 carp. Jonathan Casey landed a common carp that weighed 9lbs, Garren Caviel landed 2 carp a 6lb common and a 9lbs 8oz mirror carp and finally Jeffery Sergeant landed 5 common carp the largest weighed 10lbs.

Presentation Night

The presentation night was a huge success and many thanks must go to our MC for the evening Ian Cathrew, the trout competition secretary Gavin Jehu and Bernard Farr the Junior Competition Secretary. It was really nice to see all the youth members with their families who helped to make the evening such a success.

Weekly News Report for 21st Feb

Competitions

A sturdy bunch of anglers fished through the ice on Cyfarthfa Lake for the honour of being presented with the MTAA Committee Trophy next February at the presentation night. After sitting on their tackle boxes for 5 hours and freezing the eventual winner with the only fish caught was Steve Crowley who managed to tempt a 1oz roach. Other anglers who shall be nameless who were going to fish the competition decided that a warm bed was better than breaking the ice to go fishing.

On Saturday 3 Merthyr anglers, Gary Miles, Paul Lewis and Terry Jones fished the Redhill Open competition the weather was warmer and the pond they fished was ice free and Gary Miles tempted 46lbs of carp to win, whereas poor Terry Jones could only manage 3lbs to fill the final place in the competition.

Fly Tying Competition

The annual fly tying competition will take place at the Ex-serviceman club in the top room on Monday 25^th Feb starting at 7pm until 9pm. Seniors will tie 4 flies within the 2 hours and the patterns are: Cats Whisker size 8 long shank hook, with marabou tail and wind, chenille body and bead chain eyes: Blue Zulu hook 10 to 14, black silk, tail red wool, body black seals fur ribbed with flat silver tinsel, hackle black palmered through body and blue hackle at head. The 3^rd fly is a damsel fly using your own preferred pattern and the 4^th fly is a pattern of your personal choice. The juniors will tie 2 patterns the cats whisker as above and a bibio the materials for which are, hook 10 to 14, body black red black seals fur, fine oval silver tinsel for the rib, and a black hackle palmered down the body. The two independent judges will be looking for good proportions neatness and good use of materials.

Middle Pond

Michael Kennedy caught 2 carp one 11lb and one 8lbs carp on Saturday and Jamie O’Sullivan caught 3 carp 9lbs 8oz, 6lbs and 4lbs.

Cyfarthfa Park

On Sunday Shaun Wojnarowicz was fishing the ice free end of the park on peg 39 and landed a 12lbs 8oz carp.

Amendment

Last weeks tip was that if you were float fishing put Vaseline on your line to lift the line off the water quickly, apparently this only applies when river fishing for coarse fish. When fishing ponds or lakes you want your line to sink to stop it drifting on the surface so put a tiny drop of washing up liquid on your reel line this will enable it to cut through the surface film.

Membership

Applications for membership are only accepted by post, and with applications taking 5 days to reach Tony, anglers who wish to fish Association waters are urged to apply for membership very soon otherwise they will not have their permits prior to the river opening.

Weekly Report for 14th Feb

Pontsticill/Dolygaer

Bill Thomas had a red letter day on Sunday landed 4 pike one 7lb, 2 of 9lb and a hard fighting 11lb fish all caught on mackerel. Graham Laidlaw was coarse fishing on Dolygaer and catching the occasional roach, Clive Saunders was doing slightly better fishing from the steel bridge into Pontsticill he was landing small perch.

Cyfarthfa Park

Ian Cathrew fished from peg 5 on Sunday using a waggler float and single red maggot he was tempting small roach and small carp from the right hand side of the island.

Competitions

The 1^st MTAA coarse fishing competition of the year will take place on Sunday 17^th Feb on Cyfarthfa Park Lake for the MTAA Committee Trophy. The draw will take place at 9am and anglers will fish from 10am until 3pm. All members are welcome to compete.

Tips for coarse fishing

When using a float a quick lift of the line off the water is essential to connect with shy bites. One easy way of achieving this is to lightly grease the line between the float and the rod with a tiny amount of Vaseline making the reel line float. If you are fishing for roach or rudd and the fish are taking on the drop change the way you hook your maggots, instead of through the blunt end as normal switch to hooking them through the side. The maggot will then drop down through the water in exactly the same way as loose fed maggots.

The golden rule of float fishing is that you should place enough shot on the line to sink the float right down so as little as possible is showing above surface, providing you can still see it comfortably. This is the rule because the amount of float sticking out of the surface is roughly proportional to the amount of resistance the fish feels when it takes the bait.

There are two basic kinds of shotting pattern - bulked and spread. Bulked means that most of the shot are placed together, almost touching, in a bunch. Spread shot means just that; the shot are spread along the line between hook and float, not necessarily evenly.

Bulk shotting is used directly under, or each side, the float when it is only required to lock and sink the float. It is used at about half depth or deeper when you want to make the bait sink as fast as possible to the bottom. Shot is spread when you require the bait to sink at a given rate, the smaller the shot and the more wide-spread, the slower the sinking rate.

Weekly News for 7th Feb

Aberglais Competition

News Report for 1st Feb

Aberglias Anglers Competition

The Aberglias anglers fished the middle lake at Redhill farm near Monmouth on Sunday. 1^st was Clive Davies with 44lbs 5oz, Clive used a method feeder and sweet corn hookbait to tempt his winning weight from peg 1. 2^nd was Graham Davies who landed 39lbs 8oz using a pole and expander pellet and finally 3^rd was Gary Miles with 36lbs 3oz. The next match will take place next Sunday at white springs on the old canal, if you wish to take part please ring Terry Jones on 07919258799 to book your place.

Pontsticill

Clive Saunders fished the steps at Pontsticill on Sunday and caught a lot of perch to ½lb; other anglers were pike fishing and enjoying the peace and quiet and the bracing wind. One angler who catches steadily when fishing Pontsticill is Jeff Richards and Sunday was no exception, fishing on the railway side he was landing small bream and the occasional perch. Jeff was using a worm as hook bait tipped with sweet corn.

Cyfarthfa Lake

The lake is switching on and off as far as the fishing is going at the moment one lad who enjoyed catching roach on Sunday was Stewart Davies, other anglers were all bite less and struggling.

Presentation Night

The presentation night will be held on Wednesday February 13^th 7pm for 7.30 at the ex-servicemen’s club Lower High St, prizes will be presented to all the junior and senior members who won either coarse or trout competitions during 2007. All members are welcome to attend.

Rivers Trust Launch

The South East Wales Rivers Trust will be officially launched this Friday 25th January at the Bessemer Hotel Dowlais. The rivers that will come under the Trust umbrella are the Rivers Taff, Rhondda, Cynon, Rhymney, Ebbw, Sirhowy and the Ely and all their tributaries. Over time all of these rivers will benefit from the Trusts work.

The trust will promote conservation, promote biodiversity and work with the local communities, schools, colleges and industry to help people to understand the importance of the river corridors that meander through our valleys.

This rivers trust is unique because of its location in the heavy industrial valleys of South Wales. All of the rivers are recovering industrial rivers that have slowly but surely become jewels in the heart of the valleys. They were all once open sewers with very little life in them except at the very top of the valleys away from the heavily industrialised areas. Once the heavy industry closed and moved away so the rivers started the long process of natural restoration.

The aim of the trust is to look at the rivers from the source to the estuaries and identify projects that can be funded and successfully delivered. One such project will be the problem of invasive Japanese Knotweed and Himalayan Balsam; both of these plants are foreign imports that have found the climate of Wales very beneficial to their growth to the detriment of the local plants.

Permits

Permits for the 2008 season are now available and the newsletters have been sent. If you have not received a newsletter or wish to join the angling association then application forms are available from the following: Quakers Yard Stores, Ron Jones 28 Elm Street Troedyrhiw, Nigel Morgan 20, James Street Twynyrodyn, Merthyr Angling Centre (Carl) in Cefn Coed, George Morgan 5,Fairview Houses Cefn Coed, or call 01685 723520.

Fishing Season

It has come to our notice that persons are fishing the river; this is illegal as the season does not start until the third of March. Environment Agency Wales bailiffs have been informed and any one caught fishing before the start of the season can expect a fine of up to £2000

Presentation Night

The presentation night will take place on Wednesday February 13^th 7pm for 7.30 at the ex-servicemen’s club Lower High St, all members are welcome to attend.

Top Pond

Phil Fear fished through all the bad weather on Saturday night and Sunday morning to land 7 carp the heaviest one weighed 13lbs 8oz.

Middle Pond

Like Phil, John Clegg fished overnight on middle pond and when I spoke to him he said the weather had not been too bad? John landed 5 carp the biggest weighing 8lbs.

2008 Permits

Application forms for membership of the Association were despatched last Friday with the 2007 newsletter. If you require more application forms please ring Tony Rees on 01685 723520.

Pontsticill/Dolygaer

As a tenant leasing this water from Welsh Water we are obliged to follow the rules laid down by our landlord. One of the rules Welsh Water insist upon is the use of 2 rods and only 2 rods when fishing their waters. Association members and day ticket holders are reminded that this rule will be strictly enforced by the Association bailiffs.

Trout Rearing Project

This year the Association in conjunction with 3 local junior schools is running a trout rearing project. Each of the schools will be supplied with a small aquarium and the associated equipment and at the end of this week 200 trout eggs. The children will be responsible for hatching the eggs and during the time the eggs are at the schools they will be taking daily temperatures, changing the water, removing any dead eggs and writing reports. Once the eggs hatch into alevins they will be taken to the EA hatchery near Brecon to be reared into trout parr. In June the school children will visit the hatchery to see the work being carried out there and on there return to Merthyr will bring back 200 trout parr to stock into the River. The schools taking part this year are Heolgerrig Junior School, Caedraw Junior School and Ysgol Gymraeg Rhyd-y-Grug

Aberglias

The Aberglias anglers fished White Springs match lake on Sunday. Many of the anglers had to break the ice in the margins before they could fish, and the thought of the chicken curry to be had during their presentation night on Friday evening in the Tredegar Arms Hotel Dowlais was the only thing keeping many of them warm. Paul Lewis fishing from peg 7 was the eventual winner with 16lbs 8oz, Paul used a pole and maggot hook bait. 2^nd using the same method was Ian Cathrew who landed 12lbs 10oz and 3^rd was Craig Morgan with 10lbs 1oz. The next competition will be at Redhill Fishery on the 27^th January.

The 1^st MTAA match, of the new year, will take place on Cyfarthfa Park lake on Sunday the 17^th February the draw will take place at 9am, all hardy members welcome to fish.

Middle Pond

Last Wednesday Stephen Thomas caught a mirror carp that weighed 8lbs.

2008 Permits

The 2008 permits are now available, contact Tony Rees on 01685 723520 and he will send you an application form. The 2007 newsletter should also be despatched to all members this week.

Trout Season Draws near.

We have only a few weeks left before the trout season begins on March 3^rd. Now is the time to check your fishing tackle. If you worm and spin, check that the monofilament on your reel has not weakened. Test by tying a few knots in the line and stretching the it, if it snaps easily strip it off and put new line on. Check your hooks are not rusty and that they are sharp, especially on the spinners you will be using, also check the blades of your spinners for rust. Check your rod rings to make sure that they are smooth and have no sharp edges to cut the line, any you are not sure off get them changed, it does not cost a lot and can save a lot of frustration on the river bank. Fly fishermen check your fly line for cracks and make sure it is nice and clean before the start of the season a little bit of car polish on a rag will clean last years dirt off the line. Check your fly reel clean and oil it, check your fly rod; again check the eyes to make sure they have no grooves cut into them from your tippet. Check your fly boxes and weed out the rusty flies, if you have not tied any new flies yet now is the time to get down to the classes and learn how to tie the latest killer competition flies ready for the start of the season.